Chennai, July 30(BPNS)
There seems to be no respite for the price rise of tomatoes in Tamil Nadu with wholesale price of the vegetable touching Rs 200 per kilogram in Chennai and many towns of Tamil Nadu.
The shortage of the arrival of the product in Koyambedu wholesale market in Chennai has led to the spiraling price rise of tomatoes.
P.V. Ahmad, a wholesale vegetable dealer in Koyambedu market while speaking to BPNS said, “ There is a shortage in the arrival of tomatoes from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh due to the heavy losses in crop due to intermittent rains in these states. Heavy rains had led to the total loss of crops and hence very much shortage in the arrival of tomatoes. This has led to the hike in prices of tomato in the market.”
Traders also said that the price is likely to sure into Rs 250 / kg in a weeks time.
P. Sukumaran who is the secretary of the Koyambedu Wholesale Merchants association while speaking to BPNS said, “This is the first time since the opening of this market that the price of tomatoes have touched Rs 200 per kilogram. This is unprecedented. We were expecting that the rates would be steady by July 20 but sudden rains led to the loss of crops and more than 50 percent of tomatoes cultivated in Andhra and Karnataka were lost due to the rains.”
While the wholesale market is selling tomatoes at Rs 200 per kilogram, in certain retail shops, tomatoes are sold at Rs 185 per kilogram.
Kuppusaamy, a vegetable seller in Pammal, Chennai while speaking to BPNS said, “We are selling tomatoes at less than rates that we buy as we want to avoid wastage.”
The sale volume has also decreased drastically and people are not buying tomatoes and instead focusing on other vegetables.
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